Chapter 3 – Part 6

“What’s wrong? Your expression is quite intense.”

“I’m in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime dilemma. Please don’t talk to me.”

“What kind of dilemma? Oh, since you just did a forward roll, now you’re wondering whether to practice and show a sideways roll or a backward roll first?”

“Of course not!”

She definitely couldn’t respect him. There was no way she could respect him. Firmly deciding that, Mail decided to seek a compromise in another direction. Since she didn’t want to completely violate the commandment, she would slightly alter it to keep it.

“……Let’s compromise by becoming friends.”

“Hmm?”

“I think I can do that much. Yes, I can. Even among friends, sometimes you get hot-headed and want to hit them, you know?”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s how it is. Do you want to be friends from now on?”

With a serious expression, Mail proposed this. It was quite an unexpected proposition for Rohayden, who had no idea about her internal conflict. Without any explanation, she suddenly suggested being friends.

‘Ah, is it because he’s the owner of the garden?’

Rohayden guessed this was close to the truth and pretended to contemplate, stroking his chin. Then he broke into a bright smile, revealing his neat white teeth.

“Sounds good. But I thought we were already pretty close? What’s going to change going forward?”

“There is. It changes from thinking of each other as being friendly on one side to thinking of each other as being friendly on both sides.”

“What? Hahaha.”

“Now that I think about it, I’ll just let the wind in my lungs be. It’s fine since we’re friends. And should we exchange names as a bonus?”

“Exchange names?”

“It would be awkward not to know what to call each other if we’re friends. I’m Mail Fonz Vizeart.”

After four meetings, she finally introduced her name. It was a significant delay. After hearing Mail’s introduction, Rohayden hesitated for a moment.

‘A name….’

It wasn’t a difficult or troubling matter. It wasn’t like he was pulling out a status card; a name was just a name. He could throw out any alias that came to mind or borrow someone else’s name for a moment if he couldn’t think of one. Yet, for reasons he couldn’t quite grasp, he hesitated.

‘This feels wrong.’

It was strange. Why was he so reluctant about sharing an alias? It’s not like he could tell her his real name. Rohayden, after hesitating, ultimately decided to postpone revealing it.

“I’ll let you know next time.”

“Huh? If you’re not going to tell me, then just don’t. Saying you’ll tell me next time—are you planning on changing your name soon?”

“Let’s go with that.”

“Hm? Well, okay.”

Mail didn’t press further and accepted it. She thought that even if the ‘next time’ meant in the next life, she could just let it be.

After all, he always wore a mask, so what difference did it make to hide his name as well? She decided to respect his air of mystery.

“Just call me whatever you like. By the way, do you have any work to do here?”

“Why?”

“If you have tasks, I was thinking of leaving.”

“You want to abandon me right after we become friends?”

“Then what should we do together?”

“Hmm.”

Rohayden calculated the time left. The meeting had ended early, but he had a discussion scheduled with a duke next. He wasn’t exactly free. Still… or maybe because of that.

“It would be a shame to let you go like this.”

“That line is nauseating.”

“It’s just something friends say.”

“Oh, right. But really, what should we do?”

“Hmm… how about some counseling?”

After throwing that out there, Rohayden wore a satisfied expression. It was an impulsive thought, but not a bad one. Besides, he had some teasing material.

“What? Counseling?”

“Don’t you have any concerns?”

“To me?”

“Your Highness seems uniquely pure and innocent. Truly.”

“Whoa!”

“Of all things, to have such a pure mind… It must be a continuous struggle every day.”

“How did you know?”

Mail’s pupils trembled in surprise. How could he understand our princess so perfectly! With that level of insight, he might as well be a spy from our country!

In response to Mail’s confusion, Rohayden calmly replied as if she had forgotten.

“Didn’t the young lady say it herself? To Velvetwood.”

“Oh no.”

That’s right. Realizing her careless mistake, Mail felt overwhelmed with self-reproach. That was a serious mistake… ‘Now I can’t even scold the princess… Should I just return my hero card?’

Rohayden held back his laughter at Mail’s defeated expression, fearing that if he laughed out loud, she might truly leave without looking back. He cleared his throat and composed himself. Ahem.

“Friends are supposed to listen to each other’s worries, you know.”

“Ugh, why would you even hear what I said to Velvetwood?”

“You said it loud enough for me to hear. What can I do, I’m not deaf.”

“…Can you please forget about it?”

“I wish I could, but my memory is quite good.”

“I can help with that. They say if a person hits their head hard enough, they can experience partial amnesia.”

There was a rock nearby. Mail pointed at it, claiming that it was a geographic feature that would help them. In the end, Rohayden doubled over with laughter.

Seeing him laughing heartily, Mail frowned.

“When did I ever make you laugh? What I just said wasn’t a joke.”

“My Lady is, haha, the funniest person I’ve met.”

“Oh, really…”

“Your expression isn’t great. Isn’t it an honor?”

“All the honor in the world just died. Oh, let me share a worry. I’m concerned that a close friend has a serious problem with their lungs. Should I tell them to see a physician? Counseling finished! Go see a physician. I’ll take my leave now.”

“Wait, wait.”

Quickly asking and answering herself, Mail turned to leave. Seeing her indifferent back, Rohayden unconsciously reached out to stop her. He was surprised himself; it had been so long since someone had been stopped by him. Or had it ever happened?

“Why? We just finished the counseling.”

“I just can’t adapt to your indifference.”

“If you’re reincarnated as a plant and come back, I’ll treat you kindly then.”

“Sounds tough in this life.”

“Just think of it as destiny.”

“You’re quite unyielding. But since we decided to be friends, can’t you spare a little more time? We have plenty more to talk about.”

“What do you mean?”

“I recently planted a flower seed. I want to see if it has sprouted.”

Considering it was a spur-of-the-moment thought, it was quite plausible. At least he succeeded in holding her back. Mail paused at the mention of sprouts and showed a flicker of interest.

“What kind of flower is it?”

“Why don’t you see for yourself?”

“How can I tell what flower it is just by looking at the sprouts?”

“Don’t you know?”

“…I’ll judge once I see it.”

For some reason, her last comment seemed to prick the pride of the gardening enthusiast. Mail crossed her arms, looking as if she would go anywhere. With a smile, Rohayden led the way.

“It’s been about a week.”

“That should be enough time for the sprouts to come up.”

“But can you really tell the type of flower just from the sprouts?”

“You’ll have to see, but… if you can, what then?”

“Well, that would be an impressive skill, so maybe I should reward you.”

“What kind of reward?”

Maybe a free pass to the garden? But that was something she could do already. As Mail thought this and looked at the back of the person walking in front of her, Rohayden, who had stopped in his tracks, turned around to meet her gaze. He soon spoke.

“If you want to know something about the Emperor, I’ll tell you one thing. Anything.”

Their eyes locked. Mail blinked, staring into his vivid red eyes. The Emperor?

“Why the sudden interest?”

“Just thought it might be a fitting reward.”

“If you tell me, I’ll listen… But aren’t you worried about getting dragged into something? You’ve been selling out the Emperor too much lately.”

“I can do that with you.”

“That sounds rather significant. Well, if he’s willing to offer a garden as well…”

Mail had an inkling of what he meant. They must be quite close, even if not by blood. It seemed that trust and faith were as high as the sky.

With that in mind, it made sense why he carried himself so boldly. If the Emperor was personally looking out for him, who in the palace would dare to intimidate him?

“This is why connections are important. By the way, where did you plant the seeds?”

“This way.”

Rohayden took a step forward and pointed below. At a glance, there was a small sprout near the base of the largest tree in the garden. The bright green was vibrant. As soon as Mail spotted it, her expression turned incredulous.

“You planted a flower under a tree?”

“Well, this one. It won’t bloom if it gets too much sunlight.”

“Really? Are there flowers like that… wait a second.”

Mail’s expression changed. She gathered the hem of her dress, squatted down, and immediately began examining the sprout with a serious face.

A pale green cotyledon, about the size of her thumb. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary sprout, but upon closer inspection, one of its leaves had a yellowish spot. Mail leaned in closer to observe it and soon gasped.

“Ah! This is Vilet!”

“You got it. That’s correct. But why the scream?”

“Oh my! Goodness! I can’t believe I’d see Vilet here! Oh my!”

Mail, the most excited she had been since arriving in the Empire, couldn’t contain herself and began to make a fuss.

Rohayden stared at her in surprise, momentarily taken aback by her excitement. Regardless of how he looked at her, she simply clasped her hands together, overwhelmed with emotion.

Vilet.

Some don’t even refer to it as a name. Instead, they call it a legend.

Vilet is an extremely famous flower. When you plant the seeds, sprouts emerge within three to six days; starting as sweet, ordinary green sprouts, they gradually transform into something extraordinary as they grow.

The most significant feature of a fully-grown Vilet is the color of its leaves—not the flowers, but the stem’s leaves. One leaf is green, while the other is bright yellow. It’s a characteristic found only in Vilet, unlike any other plant in the world.

But Vilet’s uniqueness doesn’t stop there. When the splendid white flowers bloom, peculiarly, they also bear fruit in the same place. The fruit, which is red, is colloquially known in academic circles as the “divine fruit,” a versatile fruit renowned for its many medicinal properties.

Its formal name is Rolante. The effects it possesses are so powerful that it’s often likened to a miracle cure, hence the nickname.

Unique leaves and extraordinary fruit—up to this point, one could easily understand that Vilet is a remarkable species that stands apart from other plants.

But that’s not all. There is one crucial trait that has led people to refer to Vilet as a legend instead of just a name.

Vilet is incredibly difficult to grow.

“How did you manage to plant this? Did you… buy the seeds?”

Mail’s voice trembled slightly as she asked. The easy part of cultivating Vilet is when the seeds sprout. After that, it’s a whirlwind of rising blood pressure, frustration, and tears.

The sprouts come up easily, but it’s incredibly hard to get them to form buds. It takes about twice as much effort to go from buds to flowering.

Getting the flower to wither and bear fruit is about four times as hard. And ultimately, statistically speaking, there’s only a one in ten chance that the fruit will even contain seeds.

There was once a gardener who was commanded by the king to cultivate Vilet and provide the fruit and seeds. He reportedly replied, “I’d rather you take my life instead.”

The difficulty of growing Vilet is a true legend.

“Did you buy it? So, this species can be sold? I got mine from the fruit of one I grew before.”

“Whoa.”

Rohayden’s voice was calm as he responded. If one were to interpret the vibe he gave off, it would be something like, “Yeah, this is Vilet, I got the seeds from the fruit, Rolante, which I grew myself. It’s nothing special. Why the fuss?”

Mail’s shock doubled. Overwhelmed by the intensity of her surprise, she stumbled where she stood. Rohayden, who had been watching, looked taken aback.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

“…Sir.”

“What?”

“Master.”

Regaining her balance, Mail knelt down, placing both hands on her knees in a reverent manner. In that instant, Rohayden’s mind momentarily went blank, unable to process the situation.

“I will serve you as my Master from now on.”

Just then, a breeze blew through. The serious tone of her voice rode the wind, resonating throughout the garden. Mail’s long brown hair fluttered, adding to the atmosphere.

On the fourth day since her arrival in the Empire, the gardening enthusiast, Mail, had found her Master.

TL NOTE: More advanced chapter of this story is already up to the site. Visit dusk blossoms for more advanced chapters and stories